Catskill Town Board gets explanation for STAR re-registration

CATSKILL, N.Y. -- Town Board members have been told the STAR re-registration campaign is necessary because so many people have illegally claimed more than one property for assessment reductions.

The information was provided during a meeting Tuesday. State Office of Real Property spokesman Arnold Jones said there are 2.6 million property owners affected by the program.

"We completed a study in 2011 that suggested there were some instances of folks taking more than one basic STAR exemption," he said. "We want to ensure that only eligible people receive the benefit, and the reason why we're doing it is that local assessors really don't have the ability to look across more than 1,000 municipalities to see if someone is getting more than one exemption."

A state Comptroller's audit released earlier this year found that, in 2010-11, there were $13 million in illegal payments by the state.

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"There were a total of 2,765,194 basic STAR exemptions and 624,474 enhanced STAR exemptions statewide," state officials wrote. "New York state's costs for underwriting STAR benefits have grown significantly, from $582 million in 1998-99 to $3.2 billion in 2010-11 and are expected to reach over $3.7 billion by 2015-16. Over 13 years, actual State disbursements for the STAR program total $37.6 billion."

Property owners who have been receiving basic STAR exemptions should have received a letter with an identification number for their property. They will be required to use that number to re-register either on the state web site at www.tax.ny.gov or by calling (518) 457-2036.

"Displayed very prominently on the homepage is where you go in and register your basic STAR," Arnold said. "It will begin with a STAR overview front page with what is needed. Registration is really quite straight forward, especially if you are the only owner. This is all information you will have directly."

Entering the code will bring up the property's address. Other information required includes the property owner's Social Security number.

STAR property tax exemptions were adopted in 1997 under former Gov. George Pataki.

The basic STAR exemption is available to property owners under 65 years old and earning less than $500,000 per year. The enhanced STAR program is for property owners 65 and older with an annual income of less than $79,500.

The amount of assessed value that can be exempted from school tax bills under the STAR program varies in each municipality, but, for 2013-14, the state set an assessment reduction limit of $33,900 for basic exemptions and $71,520 for enhanced exemptions.